A Home for the Heroes
by RebelzHeart
Summary: Tony hadn't really planned on making the offer. But stuff happened, and somehow the Avengers are all living together in what used to be Stark Tower, and despite everything that's happened they're bonding, and through their friendship they're becoming something that almost resembles... a family.
1. Steve

**A/N:** So, **this takes place directly after the first Avengers movie** , because I like the original Avengers. Don't get me wrong, I love the new ones, too, but I just felt like I wanted to originals. And I wanted them to be able to become a family without the whole civil war thing happening first, because... well, Civil War just made me cry so much…

Steve was the first one to agree.

Honestly, Tony hadn't planned on making the offer—period. The Avengers were just some misfits tossed together, and they didn't really get along together—plus, Steve was the one that Tony got along with the _least_.

But after the battle, Steve had talked with some people, and then he just sat there for a while, staring blankly at the remnants of New York, his eyes lost and unfocused… as though he were wondering, _What now?_

Oddly enough, it reminded Tony of a lost child, and even though he told himself that Fury probably would take care of Steve, the words had come out of his mouth before he had realized.

"Hey, Capsicle, need a place to crash?"

Steve's eyes flickered upwards, and the faintest hint of a smile quirked up the edges of his lips. "You making me an offer, Stark?"

Tony shrugged. "Oh, I don't know. Big mansion, genius billionaire, hero who saved the world offering you a home… doesn't seem all that bad to me." He grinned. "But, you know, that could be just me. For all I know you'd prefer to find a place on your own. Set out by your lonesome in a big, new world… without boring ol' me stealing all the ladies around…"

"No, no." Steve cut in with a small laugh. "It's just that… I haven't really thought of that yet." He looked around and his eyes seemed to dim a little. "A home… I haven't had a place like that for seventy years." The man out of time looked around. "I look at this city, somewhere I was born and raised… I look at the people, who haven't evolved a single bit… the families are the same, the friendships the same, the clothes basically the same… and yet, I can't find a single semblance to what home seems like in my head." He touched two fingers to his forehead. "Is that wrong? Or stupid? What does that mean?"

Tony shrugged again, a lump beginning to build in his throat. "It's not wrong." He replied. The quietness of his voice felt almost alien, but he pushed on. "It's not stupid, either. It just means that you need somewhere to get used to."

Steve shook his head. "I don't think I could ever get used to this." He responded in a hushed voice. "I can never get used to this world."

"Don't be stupid." Tony replied. "I'll help you."

Steve offered Tony another smile. "Thanks." He replied. "So, you offered for me to live with you? Do I get a bedroom, or…"

"Oh, no." Tony grinned. "You're getting a whole floor dedicated to you. I'm thinking I could get some vintage stuff… maybe some WW2 newspaper clippings, nah, wait, would that be, like, traumatic or something? Maybe one of those fancy grandfather clocks… ooh, is this going to be fun or what?"

And suddenly Steve wondered if it might just really be possible for him to have a new home.

0o0o0o0o0

The Tower was fancy.

 _Really_ fancy.

Just one little room would have been fine for Steve, but of course Stark had to show off and be Stark, and gave him a whole floor.

It made his throat clench a little when he saw that he had his own private kitchen— _mom would have loved this—_ and when he saw the old fashioned tables and chairs— _Bucky had bought something just like that jar at a garage sale when they were twelve—_ but through the pain he also felt grateful for Stark getting things that felt so familiar to him.

"So, do you like it?" Stark asked, beaming proudly as he gestured around the room.

"It's wonderful." Steve replied honestly as he brushed two fingers against an old wooden table. "It almost feels like I'm back in—" He cut himself off with a shake of the head. "Thank you, Stark."

"No problem." Stark replied eagerly. "So, I got a training room over in this direction for you—I've heard that you're strong and stuff, so I was like 'dude! He'd love some gym stuff, right?' and sort of just got everything I could find. If you don't like anything, we'll get something else and throw that out."

"No, that's not necessary." Steve quickly cut in with a shake of his head. "Thank you. This is more than enough."

Stark grinned. "So, we need to do a lot of things." He briskly started. "Like catching you up on all the new stuff—man, have you even watched Star Wars?"

Steve raised an eyebrow. "And that is…?"

Stark shook his head dramatically. "You really _are_ old, Capsicle!" He groaned. "We need to show you Star Wars, and X-men, and Doctor Who, and Sherlock, and everything that's super cool and awesome!"

"Show me?" Steve echoed blankly. "Are those popular books?"

"Books!" Stark threw up his hands in disgust. "Bah! Books… nobody reads _books_ anymore, Steve! It's the age of technology! We watch _movies_!"

Steve blinked and tilted his head to the side blankly. "Are those similar to films?" He asked curiously. "What are _movies_? How do you watch them? Do you have lots of film?"

Stark shook his head. "You, my friend, have much to learn." He clicked his tongue against his teeth. "Man, now that I think about it, do you even know how to turn on a lightbulb?"

"Of course I do!" Steve replied defensively.

Stark held up his hands. "Just needed to know." He muttered, and then peered curiously at the soldier. "What about a fridge?"

Steve attempted to look bold, but he seemed to have a more deer in the headlights expression. "What's that?" He asked blankly.

Stark sighed. "We've got a _lot_ to cover…" He muttered, and dug a hand into his pocket before pulling out a small rectangular object. "Now, this is a phone—yes, a phone where you call people, no, you don't need a wire—you turn it on by sliding your thumb upwards…"

0o0o0o0

The Tower was a strange, unfamiliar place. But, Steve supposed, now nothing could ever be familiar. Even simple things… the sky, air, grass and birds… they seemed strange. The sky was filled with smoke, the air smelled of gas everywhere he went, grass seemed to be a rarity now, and birds were merely fat little things that boldly stole food from people's hands.

It was frustrating how he knew that he was on earth—and yet it felt like he was on a completely alien world. "JARVIS?" Steve sighed.

"Yes, sir?" JARVIS' cool voice asked.

"Can… can you tell me what happened to Peggy Carter?" He couldn't help the way that his voice cracked a little, or how he felt his heart breaking even as he spoke. "Or… or anyone from the war. Is there anyone left? Anyone I might know?"

There was a moment of painful silence, before JARVIS replied in a voice that was almost gentle, "Peggy Carter is currently in a hospital for the elderly. There are many veterans homes, and you can probably find many war veterans in retirement homes. Would you like me to help you find a nearby one?"

It was painful, hearing that people who had been his age—maybe older, maybe younger—who he may have played soccer with, or seen in the army with him—were now elderly. _Veterans_ of a war long forgotten. He knew that seeing them would just make it hurt more, but… "Yes, please." He needed to see them. He couldn't just forget about them.

JARVIS rattled off some addresses, and Steve went to find Stark.

Stark was in his lab, as usual according to Pepper, and tinkering with one of his suits.

"Hey." Steve greeted awkwardly.

Stark raised his head and peered at Steve, before responding with a half wave and the question of, "'Sup?"

"I was wondering if you could… somehow arrange for me to go to a retirement home or something. I'd like to see a place where there are other war veterans and…" Steve shifted slightly, feeling out of place among the high tech gears and whirling… contraptions. "Of course, if that's too much of a bother, that's alright too, I just wanted to know…"

"No, yeah, that's, uh, fine." Stark stood up and nodded decisively. "In fact, I'll even drive you there! Well, I'll go with you. Happy can drive us… driving is too much of a hassle for me. But we can go together!"

Steve wasn't quite sure what he expected, or even wanted, but this probably wasn't it. He felt a bit uncertain, because he didn't really get along with Stark and didn't want a fight to break out between them—but he agreed.

When he saw the veterans it felt like a punch to the gut. So much was different… so much had changed… he had always known that, but _seeing_ people who had been his comrades in battle white haired and ill was… nothing could have prepared him for this.

But he stepped forwards anyways. Shook people's hands. Smiled and tried to hide the wince that he felt whenever someone exclaimed, "I know you! You're Captain America!" Tried to push away the thought of crying when someone with dementia spoke to him as though it actually _were_ seventy years ago, and nothing had changed.

When he left, parts of him felt like they hurt more than ever before… but some parts also felt at peace, oddly enough.

"Thank you, Stark." He breathed as they got into the car.

"No worries." Stark replied. "It was cool, seeing you talk to people your age. You give off the same grandpa ish vibe that they do… you know, when you go 'back in my day…' blah blah blah?"

Steve rolled his eyes.

The world wasn't quite normal.

But maybe that was alright.

0o0o0o0o0

 _They were on a train._

 _Bullets._

 _Bucky falling._

 _Screaming._

 _Peggy smiling._

 _Him crashing._

 _Darkness._

 _Pain._

The nightmare was still fresh in his mind when Steve woke up screaming. He glanced at the clock, heart still racing. _3:00am._ No chance of anyone still being up. No chance of him falling back asleep, either, though.

Steve sighed as he slipped out of bed and out the door, before heading to Stark's—no— _his_ kitchen (it was strange to think that), and asking JARVIS if there was any way to make hot chocolate.

"Sorry, sir, but you'll have to head down to the main kitchen if you want that." JARVIS replied. "Would you like me to send a robot up with a package for you?"

"No… no, it's fine." Steve shook his head as he attempted to brush away the remnants of the nightmare. "I just… I'll head down." The journey down felt cold and lonely, and as he stepped out of the elevator the sad thoughts of, _I'll never be able to drink hot chocolate again with Bucky… I'll never be able to get to that dance with Peggy…_ were still ringing in his head.

A pale light glowed along the stairs heading to Stark's lab and shaking his head, Steve marveled, _Of course, that's just like Stark to forget to turn off the lights. I need to tell him to stop wasting so much electricity._ He went towards the stairs, and headed down to close the lights.

Steve had just made it to the bottom and opened the door to Stark's lab when he realized that Stark _hadn't_ forgotten to turn off the lights.

Stark was still in his lab.

"A tad early to be up, don't you think?" He asked curiously as he peered at the hunched form on a table nearby.

Stark's head whipped up. He looked tired, with dark bags under his eyes and his slumped figure. "Yeah, I suppose." Stark agreed, a weary smile flittering onto his lips as he gestured to a seat. "Take a seat." Steve sat down as Stark asked, "Bad night?"

Steve lifted a shoulder. "Nothing I couldn't handle." He replied. "You?"

Stark gnawed on his bottom lip for a moment, before he mimicked Steve's shrug and repeated, "Nothing I can't handle."

Steve felt a little uncomfortable, talking with a man that he barely knew and had disliked (though now he had mixed feelings towards him), and asked, "Want to talk about it?"

Stark stayed silent for a moment. For a moment, Steve was prepared to leave the room and apologize for disturbing him, and then Stark asked quietly, "What's it like, being alone?"

Steve stared at Stark, dumbfounded, before answering softly, "It hurts."

For a moment Stark seemed to want to laugh, and then he seemed as though he wanted to cry, then he whispered, "I know. I've seem everyone precious to me die—over and over in my dreams—and every time it's _my fault_ because I couldn't save them, because Iron Man _wasn't strong enough_ , because I was selfish, because I was stupid, because I _exist_." He pressed his head into his hands. "I know it's not real, but… what if it becomes real? What if the people I care about—what if _Pepper_ dies, Steve?—what if that happens, and it's my fault?"

Steve stared at Tony, a lump growing in his throat, as he replied sadly, "Then you live with it. You cry. You feel alone. Then you come to the others in your life… and you realize that not all's lost. You realize that it's not your fault. You feel lost, and scared—but you begin to realize that you're not the only one who feels alone." He reached out and awkwardly took Tony's hand. "I know how that feels. Heck, I'm living it. But I'm here for you… not you as in Stark or Iron Man, but you as in Tony."

This new world was strange and terrifying. But somehow… Steve thought that he could make it work out.

 **A/N:** I know, I'm supposed to be in the KHR and One Piece verse... but this fic was calling out to me to be created. I just started it, but I think I'm falling in love. What do you guys think?


	2. Bruce

**A/N:** Kinda curious, did any of you notice how in the first chapter Steve referred to Tony as 'Stark', until the end when they got closer and Steve finally called him 'Tony'? It was really hard to keep calling Tony 'Stark'… I did that again with the second paragraph, because that was from Bruce's point of view, so _no_ , it's not inconsistency, it's just because it's from their POV.

Bruce was the next to agree.

Bruce needed a place to stay—somewhere where he couldn't be found, and where he wouldn't hurt others. Tony was unsure, but he talked it out with Steve and figured, what the heck.

It was probably the most spontaneous of them, because Tony just phoned Bruce one day and as an explanation said, "Pack up, you're living at the Tower.", before hanging up.

Steve had groaned and scolded Tony for his lack of explanation, but there must have been some sort of method to Tony's madness because the next thing they knew Bruce was standing in front of the tower, looking a bit like an abandoned puppy.

They had barely made contact before Tony started nervously rambling. "So, this is the tower." He began awkwardly. "And that's the elevator, it's super cool because there's no buttons because JARVIS controls it and don't worry about power and stuff because there's a ton of backup generators just in case but also if it gets too bad don't worry I have a trap door on the bottom and top and don't worry about Hulking out either because this glass is super firm and Hulk proof and do you think you can turn green and still be in control because that would be cool and not that I need that or anything because you're fine just the way you are but…"

" _Tony_." Steve cut in to Tony's rambling with a slight laugh. "Don't worry, Dr. Banner isn't going to run away, you'll have plenty of time to say everything that you want to say to him." He paused, and turned to the overwhelmed scientist. "You… _aren't_ going to run away, are you?" He asked nervously.

"No, no, of course not." Bruce offered the two an amused smile. "Especially considering that I'm homeless right now, I have no reason to decline your generous offer. I see that you two have grown rather close in the time that I haven't seen you two."

"Close?" Tony grinned. "Looky at that, Capsicle! Our dear little Hulky has realized that we've bonded and become super close! He sees our tightness!"

"Tightness?" Steve echoed, his eyes flickering over to Bruce as he wondered, "Was that a movie reference, or a slang term?"

"Slang term." Bruce explained. "How long have you been staying at Stark Tower?"

"Nonononono!" Tony waved his hands wildly as he popped in between Bruce and Steve. "I'm gonna call it _Avengers_ Tower! We've got three of the Avengers here, right? So, I was like 'dude, it can't be just mines since it belongs to all of us' and since I'm totally into sharing and stuff because I'm awesome it's _Avengers_ Tower."

Bruce raised an eyebrow at Steve. "Did you give him sugar?" He asked accusingly. "Because I swear that as annoying as Stark is, he wasn't _this_ annoying the last time we met."

" _One_ cup of hot chocolate, that was _it_!" Steve exclaimed. "I give him a little sugary drink, and the whole _world_ is mad at me! I swear, everyone we've met has asked me! It's not the sugar, he's naturally like this, _honestly_!"

"Yeah, I'm always like this!" Tony agreed brightly, before pausing and glaring at Steve, "No, wait, I'm _not_ always like—wait, did you just compare me to a kid on a sugar high?" He turned his glare to Bruce. "How _dare_ you!? I will have you know that I am a sophisticated, mature… man, I'm already bored by this speech. Hot chocolate?"

Bruce blinked at the sudden mood swing. Somehow, before his mind could fully process what Tony had said, his mouth was moving and the words, "…I'll have coffee, thanks.", had somehow managed to slip out of his lips.

Tony grinned. "Do you take sugar or cream?"

Bruce shook his head. "I'll take it black, thanks." He replied before wondering about why it felt so odd to have such a… _normal_ conversation. Perhaps it was because the last time that he remembered having a normal conversation was before the Hulk, and that felt like another lifetime that wasn't really connected to the life that he was living now. He shoved back the childish wish of, _If only I could go back to that time…_

 _Don't be stupid. You're a monster. There's no way that you can stick around humans and allow them to stay safe. You're not safe. You're not human._ Don't be stupid.

He swallowed the lump in his throat and was brought out of his thoughts by Tony shoving a cup of coffee into his hands and smiling brightly. "Black coffee, coming right up!" Tony announced. "Careful, it's hot. Wouldn't want you turning green over getting your tongue burnt."

Bruce smiled wanly at Tony as he took the cup and blew cautiously on the surface. "Thanks for the warning." He murmured. "Captain, are you getting some coffee too?"

The blond shook his head. "I'll just settle for some water." He replied. "Caffeine doesn't have any effect on me due to the serum working in my body, so even if I do drink coffee, there's no use."

"There's always the delightful taste of coffee." Tony joked.

"Of course." Steve nodded seriously. "Because, you know, I've always adored that bitter, gritty taste of scalding coffee on a cool day to warm me up. My tongue really appreciates the taste of being forced to work on a Monday."

Bruce nodded, impressed. "You have just described the taste of coffee." He admitted. "But still, us ordinary people need something to wake us up when we're tired."

"Tony has too much of it." Steve replied, seeming to just notice the cup in Tony's hands. He grabbed the cup and downed it in one gulp, before scolding the billionaire with an exasperated exclamation of, "I thought we've talked about this before! You need to get some _sleep_ —some real sleep!"

Tony wrinkled his nose as he haughtily replied, "I'm _fine_ , and besides, didn't you say that you hated coffee?"

"It's for the greater good." Steve intoned.

"Yeah, wouldn't want you being all hyped up on caffeine." Bruce agreed. "I'm already tired as it is, I don't need a drug stimulated Stark bouncing around and trying to coax out the big guy." There was a moment of silence as it felt like a penny had just dropped, and Bruce turned bright red. "Sorry." He fumbled awkwardly with his coffee. "I shouldn't have brought that up, that was completely stupid, I…"

"No, no." Steve cut in sharply, and offered Bruce a gentle smile. "It's… it's good to know that you're comfortable with talking about the Hulk without getting mad or feeling afraid."

Bruce's stomach churned. Thinking of the other guy without getting mad or feeling afraid? Was that even possible? He always felt so angry… mad that this happened to him, furious whenever he thought of the life that he could have had, the life that he _should_ have been living _right now_ but wasn't because he was a freak. He felt afraid a lot of the time, too… terrified that he might hurt someone, but also terrified that others would be disgusted or scared of him and that he'd be left all alone… just him and the other guy.

But he didn't say those things. Why would he?

"Yeah." Bruce offered Steve what felt like the fakest smile ever. "Do you know if I can get some sugar for my coffee?"

0o0o0o0o0

He woke up to soft voices and loud laughter. "JARVIS?" Bruce questioned uncertainly. "Is Stark hosting a party or something?"

"No, sir." JARVIS replied.

"Oh." Bruce listened to the faint voices bleeding through the walls, before asking, "Then what's Stark doing down there? Or is it the Captain?"

"It's both, sir." JARVIS admitted. "They are downstairs having their usual nightly meetings. I apologize if they have disturbed your sleep. They tried to stay quiet, but it seems that they have forgotten to stay quiet. Would you like me to tell them that they woke you up, or would you like to go downstairs and share a cup of hot chocolate with them?"

"That's alright, JARVIS, I can't sleep anyways." Quietly slipping out of the (excessively) large bed that Stark had (oh so generously) given him, Bruce slipped on a shirt and stepped out of the (too big) room.

When he reached the floor that Stark and Cap were on, they seemed to be talking about him. "He's kind of strange, I suppose." Stark was saying. "But you were strange too, at first. He's not a bad strange… it's just that he's kind of honest, you know? I'm not used to honest people."

Cap hummed thoughtfully. "You're right." He agreed, as he took a sip of his drink. "Honest is good. And Dr. Banner isn't so bad… it's just odd, having someone in this tower other than you. Like you said, it was a good odd, just… different."

Feeling awkward, Bruce tapped lightly on the frame of the doorway. "If you gentlemen would excuse this interruption." He raised an eyebrow.

"Speak of the devil!" Stark grinned. "Come in, Brucie, we were just talking about you! I haven't gotten to the part where I found you turning green and rage-y hilarious yet—but I'm sure we'd have gotten there eventually. Of course, not that you're here, we can't gossip about you, which is no fun, but whatever."

Bruce rolled his eyes as Cap sighed. "Ignore him, as usual." Cap advised Bruce. "So, what brings you down here?"

"Your voices are kind of loud." Bruce admitted. "I think the other guy gives me enhanced senses occasionally… maybe I turned green in my sleep, I'm not quite sure. This usually doesn't happen, though."

Cap stared at Bruce curiously, as though he were wondering if that was the real reason, but he nodded. "I see." He finally said neutrally. "So, you couldn't fall asleep because of us? I'm terribly sorry."

"I'm not." Stark laughed.

"You never are." Cap retorted with a roll of his eyes. "Lay off Dr. Banner, would you?"

"Fine." Stark pouted and stuck his tongue out at Cap, but Bruce could tell that it was more good natured joking than actually unhappiness. "Spoil sport."

"So, why are you here?" Bruce wondered. "Did Stark actually have too much coffee?"

Stark and Cap exchanged glances. Cap mouthed something, and Stark looked irritated, but Cap elbowed him, so Stark sighed, seeming to come to a dislikable conclusion, before turning to Bruce and staring at him. "As embarrassing as it is to admit this, no." Stark sighed. "We're here because of issues with sleeping at night."

Cap rolled his eyes. "I may be over 90 years old, but that definitely is _not_ the proper way to say it." He declared.

"It's alright." Bruce assured Cap. "I know what he means."

"You do?" Stark groaned. "Of course you do. You're a smart, science dude after all! Of course you know what I mean. Why do I even bother saying it in a way that irritates Capsicle?"

Cap rolled his eyes. "Well, if you ever get them, you know where to come." He offered Bruce. "Or, you know, if you just want to talk… well, I don't have a job or anything, so I'm constantly free. And Tony avoids work with a vengeance, so he's… uh, probably available, even if he's not supposed to be."

Stark smiled brightly. "I take pride in how I can avoid almost any and all work."

"It's not something that you should take pride in." Cap laughed.

And, although he still felt jumbled up and out of place, one tiny little part of Bruce (the smallest part, huddled in a little corner of his heart) felt like he just might be able to belong here.

Just a little, though.

0o0o0o0o0

He finally got up the nerve to ask the question a little after their nightly meetings got more personal.

There had been an awful screaming sound the night before, and that night when asked, Tony had admitted that he had dreamt about a more terrible ending to the Battle of New York. Steve had adopted a gentle expression and made some hot chocolate, but not before assuring Tony that it was all right.

Tony had also admitted that it was turning into his greatest fear—Steve and Bruce and Pepper (the _only_ three he held so precious, something that made Bruce's heart break a little)—all dying.

Before he could stop himself, Bruce had blurted out, "Why would you care so much about _me_ , though?" Tony had looked at him so hard—his expression had been so _shocked_ —that Bruce flinched and muttered, "I'm sorry, that was a stupid question. I shouldn't have said that, I'm sorry…"

" _No_." Steve's firm voice cut in like a knife, and he ordered, "Don't apologize." At Bruce's chastised expression, he sighed. "Sorry for using that voice." Steve sighed. "It's just… why wouldn't we care about you?"

Bruce shrugged.

"Is it because of the other guy?" Tony raised an eyebrow. "Because really, we don't care. The Hulk won't hurt us… he saved me in the Battle of New York, even. Why would I be afraid of him?"

"Because I'm a monster!" Bruce snapped. "I could snap you like a twig—suit or no suit! I could burst your eardrums by roaring, I could step on you and your brains would fly everywhere, and even if I cared about you, when I get mad I lose control! How can you trust something like that?"

Steve's face fell. "You're not a monster, Bruce." He said softly. "You're our friend."

"I _know_." Bruce gritted his teeth. "And that just makes it worse how one day I could end up killing you!"

"But you won't." Tony smiled brightly. "I trust you."

"Then maybe you're putting your trust in the wrong thing." Bruce replied.

"Person." Steve corrected. "You're not a thing, you're a person. And don't worry about the Hulk. You're you. The other guy isn't you. Simple as that."

Bruce frowned.

Tony smiled assuringly.

Steve handed him some hot chocolate. "Trust us." Steve offered. "Trust that we won't make you so mad that the other guy will come out. Trust us that we won't try to hurt you. Trust us that the other guy will never feel the need to come out."

"But what if I can't?" Bruce demanded, frustrated.

Tony stole his hot chocolate. "Do it anyways." He replied.

"It'll take time." Steve glared at Tony. "But we're always here for you."

"But what if I'm not always here for _you_?" Bruce threw his hands up in the air. "What if he just takes over and I never turn back into Bruce Banner?"

"That will _never happen_." Steve repeated firmly. "You're not a monster. You're our friend. That's all that matters."

Bruce sighed, unable to muster the energy to argue anymore. "Alright." He sighed. "Maybe you're right."

Tony grinned as he downed the rest of the hot chocolate. "We always are."

And maybe it was so. Maybe Bruce really wasn't a monster.

Suddenly, the tower didn't feel quite so strange, and he didn't feel so scared of the Hulk.

In fact, a little… just a little, mind you… it was starting to feel like home.


	3. Thor

Thor wasn't exactly permanent.

He didn't really even live at the tower.

He just had a floor for when he decided to stay on earth, and since that wasn't too often, they just gave him a random room on what Tony had started calling the 'Avengers floor'.

"Interesting." Thor noted as he looked around the tower. "What is this strange thing that you call a 'microwave'? I have heard that it has magic that can heat up your food instantly!"

Steve grimaced. "It sounds interesting, but when you get to it, it's all very complicated and tiring trying to figure it all out." He informed Thor. "I thought that it would be wonderful, but it's so hard to use! You have to push a button to open the door, when it feels like you can just pull it open, and then there's a knob you twist to see how long you want to heat something up, and then you can't just tell when it's heated up, you have to know beforehand how long you want it to be in there!"

Thor frowned. "That is odd indeed. On Asgard we simply allowed our chefs to add ever warm dust to it, or to magically heat it up. What is this 'button' and 'knob' that you speak of?"

Bruce smiled. "It's really quite simple once you get the basics." He reassured Thor. "You'll have lots of fun figuring everything out, I'm sure!"

"You have _no_ idea how hard it is to get the basics down." Steve declared.

"It's not our fault that you're an uneducated old grandpa, Capsicle." Tony declared as he pulled out a remote control and turned off the TV.

Steve rolled his eyes. "You two can try to walk Thor through technology." He declared. "I'll be in my room, reading."

Tony scoffed. "Nobody _reads_ anymore, Capsicle." He declared.

"I do." Bruce replied mildly.

"You two are just weirdos!" Tony decided.

"So claims the self declared genius, billionaire, playboy, and philanthropist." Steve pointed out with a roll of his eyes. "You have to admit it, you're just as odd as us."

Tony raised an eyebrow. "So, you're saying that _I_ am on the same level as a super soldier who's basically travelled to the future, a genius scientist who can turn into a green rage monster, and an alien god who travels through space on a _rainbow bridge_?" He threw his hands up in the air. "Well, if you says so, then I won't argue, but… you know, I'm feeling a little incredulous right now."

Thor smiled. "That is amusing how on Midgard those things are considered normal." He declared.

"They're not." Bruce replied at the same time that Tony said, "Yes, they're completely normal." And Steve declared, "Don't listen to Tony, he's just an idiot."

Thor tilted his head to the side, unsure who to listen to, but continued to smile, puzzled. Needless to say, Tony was merciless in misguiding Thor about the things people found 'common' on Midgard.

0o0o0o0o0

Thor was _very_ good at trolling people.

It all started when Tony decided that he _needed_ to catch up Steve and Thor with pop culture and well known things.

Steve found it exhausting, and Bruce helped to thatch the plot to completely fool Tony. Thor was the one that was the true star of the show, though.

Tony had practically been making himself sick trying to explain to Thor that _no_ , the things in Star Wars were not _actually_ real, despite the fact that Thor kept puzzling that, "This seems very similar to the battle of Yewdawn. Are you sure it is not a historical documentary? It is much more realistic than those 'reelty terebizion' shows that you insist are real."

Exhausted, Tony had decided to leave alone the clueless Steve and Thor in the living room with a stack of DVDs that he instructed them to watch before Thor decided to return to Asgard.

Steve and Thor, who had long since watched them, were having an avid debate about which of the reincarnations from Doctor Who was the best. Steve was partial to the 9th ("It's because he also came from a war." Steve would admit. "He reminds me of myself a little… but he's a true hero. Funny, too. Bit broken from war, but he still chooses to live. That's bravery for you.") and Thor couldn't decide between them ("Those men are all so funny! They are all just so... amusing! They all were so peculiar, but caring as well, it's very strange.")

And, so, while they were pointing out the good points and flaws of each doctor (although finding flaws was VERY difficult, and practically impossible. Steve's only complaint was that the ninth didn't get enough air time, and Thor was still crying over the fact that the tenth was no longer with Rose and sobbing over the fact that they always ended up dying), Tony came in.

"What is going on?" He demanded, dumbstruck just as Thor raised the point that they hadn't seen enough of the twelfth doctor to really judge him properly.

Their heads snapped up, and Steve's instant, "Sorry, Tony." Didn't seem to help smooth things out.

"What are you _doing_?" Tony repeated, dumbstruck. "No, wait, I don't even _want_ to know what you're doing… no, wait I _do_ want to know. I want you two to tell me that this was something that is brand new, you _just_ marathoned Doctor Who last night, and I don't need to get mad at you for pretending to not understand all my Doctor Who references."

Steve and Thor exchanged guilty glances.

"In our defense, your references were not very funny." Thor commented.

Needless to say, they were in _big_ trouble.

0o0o0o0o0

They didn't really realize what was up with Thor until he was about to leave.

"You don't have to go to Asgard, you know." Tony noted, only half joking, half of him honestly serious. "You could just stay here on earth, for as long as you want."

Thor smiled at Tony. "I do not belong on Midgard." He replied honestly. "My home is Asgard, however strange it must seem to you. I'm an alien to your world… I cannot stay. I can never truly be accepted here."

"We'll always accept you." Steve replied in his honest, typically old fashioned kind way.

Thor shook his head. "As kind as you have been, even patiently dealing with the burden of needing to take care of me, there is no need to lie, Son of Rogers."

Steve's smile faltered slightly. "I'm not lying, Thor." He replied honestly. "I'm simply stating the truth. We'll accept you here no matter what."

Thor shook his head again. "I am the brother of one who has done great damage to your world." He responded mournfully. "I will rightfully accept the blame for him doing such things."

"It's not your fault." Bruce cut in insistently, feeling something inside him twinge in resonance with Thor's words. "You couldn't have controlled Loki."

"But I could have _stopped him_." The fury and frustration in Thor's voice sounded raw, like he had started thinking about this a long time ago and had never stopped. "If I hadn't tried to negotiate, hadn't tried to be so soft on him, hadn't _cared like that_ …"

"Then you'd be an emotionless monster." Bruce cut in sharply. "You'd just be a cold, calculating robot. Emotions are something that everyone has, Thor, and that's not wrong."

"But I shouldn't have cared so much that I was blinded by the fact that he was part of my family to see…"

"Family is someone who's supposed to always be there for you." Steve cut in again. "I… I mean, I guess that none of us have really had much experience in that matter, but… Thor, you grew up with him. He was your brother. You spent most of your waking days together. You could never have anticipated this."

"I _lived_ with him." Thor repeated with a sad shake of his head. "That's just all the more reason for me to have known that something inside of him was twisting and changing into something so… so different from the brother that I had thought I'd known."

"It's hard to see the darkness and cruelty in someone that you care about." Steve admitted. "Look, Thor, you didn't want Loki to destroy us, you were willing to fight him to save us, and you did help to rescue so many people! Do you really blame yourself for that?"

Thor lifted a shoulder awkwardly. "Even if it wasn't my fault, I still can't stay." He replied. "I'm don't belong."

"Boo hoo!" Tony snorted with a roll of his eyes. "So what if you're the self proclaimed Norse god of thunder and lightning? Brucey here can turn into a huge green invincible rage monster that he can't properly control, and you're worried about being a freak that doesn't belong with the rest of us mere mortals?"

"I take offense at that." Bruce noted mildly. "An apology would be rather nice."

"I'll get you one later." Tony replied dismissively.

"Apologies aren't something that you buy, Tony." Steve sighed wearily.

"In my world they are." Tony replied. "Anyways, Flashpoint, the point here is that it doesn't matter how different you are, you'll always belong here, with the Avengers."

Thor was silent for a moment. Then he smiled. "Thank you." He replied. "I shall keep that in mind the next time I come to visit."

And with a bright flash of light, he was gone.

 **A/N:** I'm feeling a little iffy about this chapter. Honestly, Thor will be difficult because he's just so… honest and cute that it was kind of hard finding a dark spot with him. But he's got them, and… well, this was a short chapter, and awful too, but… hope you enjoyed it?


	4. Natasa

**A/N:** In Civil War, you know that line where Steve says to Tony [about Bucky] "He's my friend" and Tony goes "I was too"? I feel like Steve isn't really saying "He's my friend", but more like "he's the only one I've got left of what I thought was my life, he's a reminder of a time where I had people I cared about, he grew up with me, he's _family_ " and then at the end he realizes that he can't cling onto the past and destroy his future. Sorry for blabbing about this, you probably don't care… onto the story!

Natasha wasn't exactly invited… she had sort of just invited herself, and everyone was just too scared to deny her the rights to live in the tower.

The day had gone on as normal, and then one day the red haired assassin had just showed up, suitcase filled to the brim, and in disguise. "I'm staying with you." She informed them in her typical short, to the point manner, and Tony, having already expected this, showed her to an already prepared floor.

"Fury put you up to this, didn't he?" Tony grumbled half heartedly. "You're here to spy on me again?"

Natasha merely blinked at him, her hair hiding her expression from sight as she replied in a neutral voice, "Classified, Stark. You expected this, though, shouldn't you already know the answer to that? Three of the Avengers in one place… and a fourth here on and off. You can't blame Director Fury for being a bit suspicious. If you all decided to team up and become a threat to SHIELD… well, it would be quite unfair not to have a warning, wouldn't it?"

Tony stared at her for a long time, before he shook his head. "You're hiding something from me." He decided, lips pursed together. "But then again, you never were the most open person, were you?"

Natasha continued to stare at him unevenly, until Tony informed her where he had placed his cameras and warned her that if any of them were destroyed he'd kick her out—professional assassin or not—and then he left.

Natasha sat there, just breathing for a moment as she took in the room, eyes sweeping over every nook and cranny with an almost unhealthy amount of paranoia, before she nodded decisively and pulled her suitcase to her bedroom.

The first thing that she pulled out was a picture of Clint, her, and a woman who none of the other Avengers could identify, and Natasha merely said, "Clint will tell you if he ever comes."

She pulled out a spare knife, which she tucked inside her shoe, then a small gun, which she slipped under her mattress, then a few other weapons which she hid in various parts around the room. She had just slipped a tranquilizer dart in the light bulb when she froze, and asked, "JARVIS, can you delete all the videos that showed me hiding those weapons?"

"I can only delete something if sir gives me permission, ma'am." JARVIS paused, as though considering something, and then added, "If you threaten sir in order to get to your means, I will not do what you wish."

Natasha peered at the camera, and the edge of her lips quirked up into a smirk. "I wouldn't do that." She replied. "I'm here for business, not fun."

JARVIS sounded exasperated as he responded, "Ms. Romanov, I would appreciate it if you refrained from calling it 'fun' to threaten my creator's life."

Natasha nodded. "Will do." She replied with a casual salute and a light laugh. "So, who's that right outside my door?" When JARVIS gave no answer and there was a sharp intake of breath from the other side, she sighed, "Come on in, whoever you are." She paused, before adding teasingly, "Unless you're Stark, in which case, you're not allowed to step onto this floor without my permission."

There was a slight chuckle from the other end as the door opened and Steve popped his head in the crack between the door and the doorframe. "No, I'm not Tony." He replied, amused. "Although, if I were, what would you have done to get me off your floor?"

"I don't think that an innocent boy like yourself could stand hearing me tell you what I'd do." Natasha replied, amusement lining her tone as she stood up. "I heard that you were the first to move in. Why the change of heart towards Stark?"

Steve offered her his usual smile of amusement, where his eyes just barely crinkled and his lips were perfectly even, and replied, "I didn't have it at first. The change of heart, I mean. Stark offered, and while I wasn't exactly his biggest fan, I needed a place to stay. I suppose, as I stayed and talked more with him, I just got to know him better." He ducked his head, cheeks flushed. "He's not all that bad, you know. Just puts of a front, most times."

"I know." Natasha agreed. "In fact, Stark seems fond of acting just like you tend to."

Wonder flickered in Steve's eyes before he peered at Natasha and asked, "What do you mean?" Confusion filled his countance as he reviewed his memories for times he acted similar to Stark. "When have I acted like Tony?"

"You do it all the time." Natasha replied with a wave of her hand. "Smiling when you're sad… pretending that you're okay even when you're in pain, staying silent when you should be telling us your problems, acting like you don't matter as much as others… you know, that kind of stuff."

"I don't do that." Steve frowned.

Natasha laughed. "You don't _honestly_ believe that, do you?"

Steve tilted his head to the side. "Believe what?" He asked innocently. "That I'm perfectly normal?"

"You are not normal, you never will be, and I'll bet my life that you never have been." Natasha replied. "You're a self sacrificing idiot, just like all the rest of the Avengers."

Steve peered at her, before asking, "So, you're one too?"

The laugh that came out of Natasha's lips was amused, but pained. "I'm nothing like you guys. I'm not even an Avenger… more like a babysitter. I didn't save the world because I had a hero complex like you all do, I saved it because I've already worked so hard to destroy it that I'd need to save it multiple times to break even."

The unconvinced expression of the old soldier refused to leave his expression, and he replied in a soft voice, "I don't think that's true. I think that you're just as selfless as you believe I am… and I think that you've done more than your fair share for what the world needs."

"I'm a killer." Natasha reminded him. "I murder people for a living, and you think that I'm _selfless_?"

Steve shrugged. "And the rest of us aren't?" He asked. "We've all done things that we're ashamed of. I…" He closed his eyes. "I'm no stranger to making one or two mistakes."

"I've _killed humans_ , Steve." Natasha can hear the panic filling her voice, and she can't help but be a little curious about how Steve can accept the fact that she's taken someone's life so easily. "That's not a little 'mistake'."

"No, it's not." Steve agreed. "But you aren't the person who killed them. You're someone else. You find killing wrong now, hate who you used to be. But that's all. That's who you _used_ to be. It's not who you are anymore. Your past does not define you, not unless you allow it to."

"And what if I allow it to?" Natasha wondered, intruiged.

Steve swallowed, his eyes sad as he ducked his head down. "Then… it consumes you." He stood up abruptly, and offered Natasha a shaky smile. "Don't let the past consume you. I've done it before, and… it's the most painful thing that can happen to anyone." He walked toward the door, then turned his head and added, "Tony, Bruce and I have meetings at around midnight. You're always welcome to join us."

It was almost eerie how Natasha actually was considering it.

0o0o0o0o0

Natasha woke to the smell of bacon sizzling, fresh eggs, and flipped blueberry pancakes.

She stepped outside to a cheer of, "She's up, she's up!"

Natasha stared in disbelief at the sight of Steve gently placing eggs on four plates, Tony cheering and throwing confetti around, and Bruce reading a book on the couch.

"I thought that we had our own separate floors." She felt dumbfounded, but the words must have come out as threatening because Tony instantly paled and Steve's smile seemed a little nervous.

"We do." Bruce sighed as he carefully marked his page and put his book on the coffee table. "But Tony thought that it would be a good idea to have a breakfast to celebrate you being here. Steve offered to cook and… well, Steve's a pretty good cook." The last part almost sounded like he was trying to make a peace offering.

Natasha stared at the scientist, just long enough to watch him squirm worriedly, and then smiled brightly. "Sounds good. I like blueberry pancakes." She paused. "Although I could have sworn that I mentioned that if Stark came onto my floor I'd decapitate him…"

Tony gulped. "I… uh…" He paled. "JARVIS? She never said that, did she?"

There was a beat of silence, before JARVIS cheerfully replied, "No, she must have conceived that idea in her sleep. Ms. Romanov, shall I get your memory checked?"

"No." Natasha sighed. "I just wanted to have some fun. It was a joke, that's all. No need to worry yourselves unnecessarily about how long Stark is allowed to keep his head." She paused, and smirked. "For now, at least."

Tony shivered. "How about getting that breakfast around now?" He asked nervously.

"Sounds good." Natasha agreed as she took a seat. Steve handed out the plates and utensils, and she offered him a smile and a cheerful, "Thanks!"

He smiled widely back, and replied politely, "You're very welcome. I hope you enjoy!"

Watching as the three men started to eat their breakfast, and as casual chatter began to rise among them, Natasha almost felt like this was a home, instead of a mission.

It was a strange feeling, but she'd explore that later.

For now, Natasha decided to get started on breakfast.

0o0o0o0

Natasha decided to take up Steve's offer on those midnight meetings after she woke up from a nightmare about the Red Room, and despite the fact that she knew she was strong and that the tower was safe, being alone terrified her.

JARVIS suggested it, and though she wanted to just put on a fearless mask of a girl filled with confidence in herself, her heart was thumping in a way it hadn't for years, and before she knew it, she found herself in the downstairs kitchen, listening to Bruce wonder about the Hulk's other emotions.

"That's an interesting choice of conversation topic." Natasha noted as she fixed on a neutral mask and stepped into the kitchen.

Tony stared at her in amazement. "What are you doing here?" He blurted. "I mean, not that that's a _bad_ thing or anything, I'm just curious, since you didn't… um… yeah…"

Natasha raised an eyebrow coolly. "Isn't this a free country?" She asked. "Steve offered, and I decided to take him up on his offer."

"That was days ago, though." Bruce deducted cautiously. "Is there anything… specific… that brings you here now, of all times?"

Natasha stared at him, and her gut making a slight barrel roll, she admitted, "I had a rough night. But then again, who hasn't had them?"

"No one." Steve agreed as he handed her a cup of hot chocolate. "Marshmallows?"

"Yes, please." Natasha stirred the drink and took a cautious sip. "Do you do this every night?"

Their reactions were almost instantaneous. Tony reaffixed his cocky grin (though Natasha easily saw through his mask), Bruce looked almost guilty, and Steve seemed a little ashamed. "Yeah." Steve finally sighed, blowing lightly on his hot chocolate. "It's… comforting."

Natasha offered him a curious look, before prodding, "How?" She took a sip of her hot chocolate and then met Bruce's eyes. "Why do you need it?"

Tony made a small, strangled sound, and Steve's eyes shifted to him for a moment, before he asked her, "Don't you ever feel like you need some sort of a way to escape the monsters lurking around the corners?"

Natasha thought back to the fear she had felt pounding in her chest, and the stupid paranoia (though she had known that the tower was safe) as she whipped her head around, alone in her new room.

"…Yeah." The admittance felt as heavy as lead on her tongue, but when she had said it, at the men's satisfied expressions, strangely enough, she felt almost as light as a feather.

"Is that why you're here?" Bruce asked as he took a sip of his drink. Coffee, from the smell of those beans, and high quality, too. "Had a monster lurking under your bed?"

Natasha shook her head. "There's no such thing as a monster under your bed." She replied as she tapped her forehead lightly. "They all sleep inside your head, so that you can never escape them."

"I get that." Strangely enough, it was Tony who blurted that out. As soon as he said it, he looked embarrassed (but it seemed mostly because of her presence, he seemed completely comfortable with Bruce and Steve hearing that). "My monsters… they're all in here, so I can never escape them. Wherever I go, they're always chasing me, freaking me out, and I feel worried that they'll…" He trailed off, and flushed. "It just happens some of the time, though." He quickly added. "Don't worry about it."

Steve gave him a look like a wounded puppy, and agreed, "It's the same for me. I'm not scared, exactly, just… confused. And sometimes, even though I'm familiar with Stark Tower, I'll just look around and wonder, _What is this place?_ I don't belong here."

"You definitely belong." Tony assured him, and Natasha allowed herself a private smile.

Bruce was more cautious, and didn't open up to Natasha until days later, when she finally told them about the Red Room, and how it had terrified her.

Steve had offered her a tissue when she cried (she wanted to contain it—but seeing their faces, it felt like she didn't have to hide anything anymore), Bruce had squeezed her hand, and Tony had patted her back awkwardly.

None of them judged her.

None of them pitied her.

But they were all there to make sure she was okay.

And the feeling that this was almost her home, blossomed into the thought that it really was home, more than SHIELD headquarters had ever been.

It was a comforting thought.

 **A/N:** I don't really like how I ended it, but I do like Natasha. I'm a little worried that I didn't do her justice, though, and Tony might seem a little OOC… but I hope you liked it anyways?


	5. Clint

**A/N:** I don't know if I ever addressed this (I think I have, but I'm not sure) but one of the main reasons I kept writing this was because of my first reviewer, a guest who said that they were falling in love with this story too, and I felt really inspired. So, thanks to the mysterious guest, if I haven't already said thanks!

Clint came after he was kicked out of SHIELD headquarters for something that he didn't wish to disclose, but later Natasha revealed was that he had accidentally broken a little bit of (aka decimated and burned to the ground) a secret SHIELD facility after a training session gone wrong.

Tony, to his credit, simply sighed and told him which floor he got to own, and informed the man that he had already expected this to happen and that Clint's floor was furnished and already prepared.

Clint was surprised, but once he saw his floor, immediately felt comfortable and suspicious at how Tony had managed to make a room so perfectly tailored to his preferences.

Bruce had merely sighed, shook his head, and replied wearily, "Call it a Tony thing, he probably hacked into SHIELD's files or something."

"I did not." Tony objected.

Steve, who had been reading an old newspaper, turned around and raised an eyebrow. "Did I just hear Tony _not_ claim credit for something?" He sounded awed as he tugged at his ears. "…Or am I just going deaf?"

Tony rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. " _Yes_ , I just said that I didn't do something." His exasperated sigh was enough to make Bruce inch away and ask Steve if Tony had just been possessed. " _I_ didn't do it, _JARVIS_ did."

"Ooh." Natasha let out a sigh of relief. "So, you're not _actually_ not taking credit for something completely genius and deviant, you're simply going into details."

"JARVIS is a completely independent form from me!" Tony declared as a scowl began to pull the edges of his lips down. "As much as I'd love to say that I hacked into SHIELD's database, you've got to give _JARVIS_ the credit, not me!"

"Right." Natasha agreed sarcastically. "Because it's not like JARVIS is a machine that you created and only has _artificial_ feelings, and it's not like he does everything that you tell him to, either…"

"Okay, yeah, but he has _intelligence_!" Tony argued. "He's… he's just like you and me, just… it's just that he doesn't have a body…"

"Right." Natasha patted Tony's shoulder patronizingly. "And you're not mentally unstable."

Tony spluttered, but didn't argue as he sighed and turned to Clint. "Let's take you up to your room." He sighed.

"Alright." Clint smirked. "Just don't have a mental breakdown, Mr. Insanity."

"Not you too!"

"Tony's getting a taste of his own medicine. Hm, never thought that I'd live to see this day…"

"Guys, I don't act like this!"

Clint would probably fit in just fine.

0o0o0o0o0

The room was unsettling.

Clint closed his eyes, still uncomfortable with the stale smell of an unused room and the sweet smell of Tony's air freshener. He wasn't all that fond of new places… never had been, but it would have to do. And eventually, he would probably get used to it.

Just… not yet.

He opened his eyes as scanned the room, scowling when he remembered that there were so many things that he couldn't see—JARVIS being the most prominent reminder.

"Is there an archery range?" He asked JARVIS, figuring that Tony was such a show off that he probably installed one as soon as he heard that Clint was moving over.

"Yes, sir." JARVIS replied. "Down in the gym, on Steve's floor."

That was odd, how it was on Steve's floor instead of the common one, and how it wasn't on Clint's floor… but he shrugged it off as Tony just not having much time, so he decided to head down with his bow and quiver in hand.

The elevator doors opened to the steady rhythm of fists pounding a sandbag. So, Steve was in there at the moment. No problem. Though he wasn't exactly Tony, Clint had no issues with showing off… welcomed it, sometimes, even.

As he opened the door, the pounding sound stopped, and Steve looked up. "Hey." Steve greeted Clint with a slight wave, before pointing a little to the left, and informing him, "The archery course is back there."

"You mean range." Clint corrected. "They're called ranges, not courses."

Steve laughed. "No, course." He repeated. "I could do with the course, now that I think about it… I'll go with you."

"Alright…" Clint quirked up an eyebrow, still feeling odd about Steve's strange behavior, but instantly understood once he reached the course.

It _was_ a course. Monkey bars, slides, random poles jutting out, an area with a pool, robots ready to help with training... Tony had gone all out with this gym.

Steve smiled at Clint. "You're reacting a lot better than I did when I first saw this." He gestured at the course. "I think I might have fainted, I was so amazed. Tony really outdid himself with this."

"He did." Clint agreed, closing his gaping jaw long enough to nod in awe.

Steve smiled as he began stretching, and casually wondered, "So, what was the problem? Are you unsettled by the new environment? Natasha said that you might be. Or is it something else?" The blond chuckled. "I know that I was unsettled by the fact that I was constantly being watched by invisible eyes."

Clint hesitated, an excuse already forming in his mind, but his traitorous mouth blurted, "How did you know?" before his mind could compensate.

Steve smiled gently. "There's a reason that Tony put the gym on my floor, Clint." He replied. "I'm almost always here. If you need someone to talk to, somewhere to blow off steam… even just a place to have some peace and quiet, I'm always available. My gym's constantly open, and I'm constantly available." Steve paused, before adding, "Even in the middle of the night."

"Right." Clint nodded as he pulled out his bow, his mind already racing to change the conversation as a light smile played on his lips. "So, are we going to train or what?"

Steve's eyes seemed hesitant, but with a glance at Clint he nodded his head and smiled. "Yeah." He agreed.

0o0o0o0

 _A flash of blue… or perhaps it was green…_

" _You are mines."_

 _Unfamiliar words escaping his lips._

" _I am yours."_

 _His agreement, mechanical and uncontrollable, set his heart racing as his body went through motions that he had never wanted them to go through._

 _Doing wrong things._

 _Betraying the people who had been his refuge for so long._

 _Abandoning his life._

 _His body doing things that he had never wanted to do._

Stop.

 _It wasn't stopping._

Stop.

 _It wasn't listening._

 _He wanted to scream, but no sound came out of his mouth._

 _Instead, he just continued going through the motions like the robot that he was._

Clint woke up to an unfamiliar room.

Irrational unease gripped his chest as he sat up, fingers already reaching for his bow and arrow even as he remembered where he was.

Rubbing the back of his neck, Clint tested out a nervous laugh. It sounded startling in the uncomfortable silence, and before he knew it, he had made his way to the gym, bow and arrow in hand.

 _He probably won't be there anyways._ Clint decided, thinking back to what Steve had said earlier that day. _I'll just cool my nerves, leave, and he'll never know._

Except it didn't exactly work out that way.

As soon as he stepped into the room, and explosion of light and the sound of hand to hand combat greeted him.

Tony, who apparently was talking to Steve about something, looked up and grinned widely. "Birdy!" He called out cheerfully as he swept his arm in a ridiculously wide arc. "Come over here, we were just talking about me!"

"My name's not birdy." Clint informed Tony with a roll of his eyes as his eyes drifted over to where he had seen a glimpse of red. "Is that… Natasha teaching Banner how to fight?"

Tony's smile widened as he replied, "We figured he needed to learn some self defense without turning into ol' Jolly Green."

"What brings you here?" Steve asked cautiously.

Clint shrugged, "Nothing much." He replied absentmindedly as he held up his bow and arrows. "Just wanted to practice my aim."

Tony snorted. "Your aim is perfect already, birdy." He replied. "You don't need practice."

Clint rolled his eyes. "Just because _you_ don't need practice, doesn't mean that the rest of us don't."

He paused as he realized that his words probably weren't true.

"Never mind." He mumbled. "None of us need to practice, it seems."

Steve laughed. "What brought you here, so late?" He asked.

Clint shrugged. "Nothing." He replied.

"Yeah, right." Tony snorted and pulled an elbow onto Clint's shoulder. "What's kept you up so late? Nightmares? Come on, we've all had them."

"It's not a big deal." Clint insisted as he shook Tony's arm off of his shoulder.

"Was it Loki again?" Natasha's voice cut into their conversation.

Tony flinched. "$%^&, Nat, I thought that I told you not to do that anymore!" He exclaimed.

Natasha bared her lips into a wide smile. "I don't know what you're talking about." She replied with faux innocence. "I've been here for quite a while. Besides, your lack of observation skills don't matter right now... Clint, what's up?"

Clint shrugged. "Nothing much."

"Right." Natasha rolled her eyes. "Well, my room's the one right below yours when you need to find me. Tony's air ducts are pretty big, so you can probably find yourself right at home up there."

Clint's eyes lit up. "Any lasers?" He asked.

Natasha raised an eyebrow. "After the incident with SHIELD burning down during your specialized training program?"

"I told them to fireproof the whole place!" Clint replied defensively. "How was I supposed to know that they didn't?"

"Stop avoiding the subject." Natasha sighed. "Was it Loki?"

Clint scowled. "Nothing happened." He repeated. "Besides, I'm not scared of him."

"Right." Natasha laughed. "I'll see you later."

* * *

For the next couple of days, Natasha offered him strange looks and raised her eyebrows at him.

After a week or two, Clint gave in.

"I'm not scared of Loki." He mumbled around a cup of coffee. "I'm more scared of not being able to control my body."

Tony and Bruce, who had been tinkering around with the toaster so that they could make all the toast pink (it was Tony's idea, but somehow he had managed to rope Bruce into helping him... Bruce had resisted for ten minutes, but had spent the last few scolding Tony for something or the other), stopped and put down their tools.

A strange smile spread across Tony's features, as though he wanted to feel happy but was grimacing, and he said, "So, you've finally come around?"

Natasha, who had been playing target practice with an apple that she repeatedly placed on Clint's head (he was going to need to wash his hair later), smirked. "Stark, pay up." She sing songed as Tony handed tossed some bills at her.

"You bet on how long it would take for him to crack?" Steve tucked a bookmark into the book he was reading (The Half Blood Prince... wow, he had read fast, Tony had only introduced the Harry Potter series to him yesterday), and shot the two a disapproving look.

"Don't be such a stick in the mud, Capsicle." Tony replied flippantly. "Besides, you must have known that we would do this. And old bird brain here doesn't even mind!"

"Call me bird brain again and you'll be in trouble, tin can." Clint replied teasingly.

"You know you love me." Tony replied, equally teasing. "Anyways, you've finally given in, so spill."

Steve nodded in agreement. "Don't feel too pressured." He added in an attempt to make Clint feel more comfortable.

Clint could feel a familiar drop in his stomach at the mention of Loki, but the words came slipping out of his mouth easily enough. "It's not Loki that I'm scared of." He sighed as he put down his coffee and leaned back. "It's how he managed to take control of my body. I had done so many things, trying to help people, and with just one touch he... he managed to destroy all that. I haven't changed, that wasn't me in control, but somehow my body was moving in a way that it was never supposed to, I was doing things that I wasn't supposed to..." He shook his head. "I don't like being told what to do. Never had. But with him, I couldn't even think properly without him invading me." He shook his head. "Nobody is supposed to have power like that."

"I know how you feel." Oddly enough, (or perhaps not,) it was Bruce who spoke up. "It's like that whenever the... other guy shows up, like I black out and suddenly everything's broken, and it's because of me, but at the same time, it's _not_."

Steve handed Bruce a cup of hot chocolate, and patted his back.

Bruce smiled wanly at Steve, and nodded at Clint.

"It's not your fault." Oddly enough, it was Tony who spoke up. "And even if it was, we wouldn't care. I've messed up a lot... I've been the cause of the deaths of many good people, and that was all when I was in control. But you guys don't care."

"It was in the past." Steve replied coolly. "I know that you'd give your life for mines, if it came to that."

Clint lowered his head. "Thanks," He mumbled.

Tony laughed. "For what?" He asked rhetorically.

It was odd, but it felt... comfortable.

 _Maybe,_ Clint thought, _I could stay here... just for a while, of course_ _._

 **A/N:** Sorry I haven't updated in so long. School has been evil. But here's a Christmas present. Or, if you don't celebrate that, then Eid or Kwanzaa or whatever you like. If nothing, then just a random gift. Happy holidays.


	6. Hulk

**Reply to Galaxy Girl(Guest):** Thank you! Your review made my day. I'm glad to know that you enjoyed this story (and that you didn't cry. Or did you? Be honest). Thanks for taking the time to review to this story.  
 **Reply to forsakenfoxshadow:** Aw, thanks! I'm glad to know that you feel that way.

 **A/N:** Sorry for the late update, guys. Hulk was... hard to write, but I wanted him to have a chapter because he isn't Bruce. Not really, anyways. If you think that this chapter is stupid, feel free to skip it, Hulk probably won't appear all that often, but still, he's an Avenger.

* * *

They didn't really think about it until a few nights later when Steve asked Bruce whether or not he was doing better.

"Better..." Bruce repeated thoughtfully, "To be honest, I don't know if my situation can exactly become 'better'."

"It can always be better." Steve replied confidently, "It just depends on how you look at it."

Bruce's lips twisted to the side, and he replied, "I don't like to think about it." He finally mumbled.

"You can never heal if you don't admit your problem and face it," Natasha noted from her spot in the rafters next to Clint. She tapped distractedly at her phone, before glancing at Bruce and raising an eyebrow. "Unless you don't want to heal?"

"I don't need healing," Bruce replied, flicking some water at her. "I'm fine."

"Physically, or mentally?" Clint popped down from the rafters upside down, eyebrows raised as he crossed his arm over his chest.

Bruce rolled his eyes and put his hands on his hips. "Both. I'm fine."

"Right." Natasha pushed Clint off the rafters. "You're in denial."

Clint landed on his hands, smoothly bending his elbows and then flipping upwards. "Nat!" He whined childishly.

"I'm not in denial." Bruce insisted.

And for a while, they left it at that.

* * *

Then the Hulk came out.

They'd always treated it like a monster, like something awful, to be feared, and yet, somehow, none of them felt any fear.

It was... odd, to say the least.

The Hulk seemed almost childish, sweet and gentle.

Oddly enough, it seemed like Bruce, just a little more extreme.

He didn't speak, but after the fight, he just stood there, almost like a lost child. It glanced at the Avengers and they waited for it to disappear, for Bruce to appear again, but the Hulk seemed to be... thinking, almost, glancing at them and poking its fingers together as though it wanted to approach them or didn't know how to.

Steve was the first to move over to it, pressing a hand on its arm and offering a quiet, "Good job, big guy."

The Hulk's features lit up, and he almost looked as though he wanted to thank Steve, but couldn't quite think of how.

Then one thing led to another, and before they knew it, it was sitting in the tower, sipping hot chocolate.

"What. Did. You. _Do?_ " Tony hissed out of the corner of his mouth, scowling at Steve.

Steve seemed frozen in spot, staring blankly at the oddly picturesque scene before them, before muttering, "He looked like he wanted to be with us, so I asked him if you wanted to hang out, and it just..."

"It just happened." Natasha agreed, her lips twisting to the side as she raised an eyebrow at the spot where Clint had gone to join the Hulk and was chatting easily with them. "Well, Clint seems to be at home, so he doesn't seem to be dangerous."

Steve seemed thoughtful for a moment, before asking quietly, "What if we're going about this all wrong?"

"What do you mean?" Tony raised an eyebrow, arms folded over his chest as he leaned back and stared at Steve. "We're not 'going about' this at all, if you ask me."

"We're treating him like a bomb," Steve replied, gesturing vaguely at the kitchen. "But we ought to be treating him like a person."

There was a moment of silence before Natasha murmured cautiously (though not judgmentally), "Do you know what that is, Rogers?"

"It's someone we haven't taken the time to meet," Steve replied, a pale smile on his features. "We ought to try."

And, for some insane reason, they did.

"So, the reason that you're green is so that it's a calming color?" Tony asked, fascinated as he tucked his chin into his hands.

Hulk nodded, a hesitant smile on his lips. "Doctor... science." He explained haltingly, voice as innocent as a child's before he looked down sadly at his cup of hot chocolate (or rather, can, cups were a bit too small for it). "Want Hulk gone."

"Oh."

They didn't really have anything to say to that, after that.

"We don't want you gone," Tony said softly, a feeble excuse, even if he wanted it to be something more.

Hulk sort of nodded, sadly, as though he thought that Tony was lying. The thought made something odd, _wrong_ , coil in his gut and sit there.

Then the Hulk was gone, Bruce was back, and the team was left wondering what kind of a team they really were.


End file.
